"The Paralympic Family is united in grief at this horrendous tragedy, which casts a shadow over what have been great Paralympic Games here in Rio."

Brazil's top official for the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, Carlos Nuzman, called it "very sad news for sport and for the Paralympic movement. Our hearts and prayers are with Bahman's family, his teammates and all the people of Iran."

The Iranian flag was lowered to half-mast in the Paralympic Village, while the Paralympic flag was to be at half-mast during Sunday's sitting volleyball gold-medal match between Iran and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A minute of silence will be held during Sunday's closing ceremony.

"This is a very difficult situation. We hope we can repatriate his body to his family soon," state television website IRIB quoted the head of Iran's Paralympic committee, Masoud Ashrafi, as saying.

Golbarnezhad is survived by a wife and a son, he added.

The British Paralympic team tweeted: "We are devastated by the news of Bahman Golbarnezhad's passing. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues from NPC Iran."